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Furries! Introduction to the Furry Fandom

Are you interested in stories, art, media, and games featuring furries? Then you've come to the right place! We hope to provide a useful starting point for people interested in furries and furry fandom.

Frequently Asked Questions

We should probably get the most common questions out of the way first:

What does "anthropomorphic" mean?
Anthropomorphic means giving human qualities or characteristics to animals or objects. Anthropomorphic animal characters do things that humans usually do---walk on two legs, wear clothing, drive a car, and so on.

What is a "con"?
A con is short for "convention." There are many conventions throughout the year, where furry fans gather to do things buy and sell artwork, attend workshops, show off costumes, or just socialize.

What is a "furry"?
A furry is an anthropomorphic animal character. Some examples of anthropomorphic characters would be cartoon animals featured in animation, such as Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo, or Donald Duck. Some may also appear as mascots or advertising characters, like McGruff the Crime Dog or the Exxon Tiger. On the other end of the spectrum, furries can be talking animals featured in fairy tales, such as Aesop's Fables or literature, such as Watership Down. Also, actual furry fans themselves are also sometimes referred to as furries.

What is "furry fandom"?
Furry fandom is defined as the appreciation, promotion, and production of stories and art about anthropomorphic animals, as well as the exploration, interpretation and examination of humanity and human values through anthropomorphic expression. This includes works such as animated cartoons, comic books and strips, text stories and articles, artwork, costumes, and stuffed animals.

What is a "fursuit"?
A fursuit is a full-body animal mascot costume worn by a furry fan. Some furry fans make their own fursuits, while others have them commissioned. Fursuits can be quite elaborate and are usually shown off at convention masquerades.

What is a "MUCK"?
MUCK stands for Multi User Character Kingdom. It's like an multiplayer online game, though the focus tends to be more toward roleplaying or socializing. MUCKs are popular online hangouts for furry fans.

Art

Are you looking for furry artwork or want to learn how to draw your own? R'ykandar Korra'ti's Art Materials FAQ provides information on what you'll need to start, while Terry Whittier's Artwork Preservation FAQ has advice for ways to care for artwork once it's finished. Mel White and Glen Wooten, after doing many lectures at conventions about copyright law, have compiled their knowledge into a Copyright FAQ.

Unless noted, all of the above conventions are normally held on weekends. This makes it easier for the average fan to get away from work/school to attend.

Fursuits

Nicodemus' Fursuit Pages provide a valuable web resource for creators of animal mascot costumes---from How To guides for fursuit construction, to materials needed for construction and pictures of various projects. fursuit.org has a mailing list for discussions on performing in costume, and an extensive FAQ on construction methods.

Media

Furry fandom gets attention from the mainstream press occasionally. Here are a few articles which provide a good explanation of what furry fandom is about:

Invasion of the FurriesWayne Suburban, 07/26/01
Taking place at Anthrocon 2001, this article gives an excellent overview of furries and furry fandom.